The present invention relates to a board device and associated elements which have defined attachment properties defined by physical properties of the elements and the board configuration, and more particularly to a game having game pieces which have polarization properties on surfaces thereof defining selective and variable attachment properties with respect to a board and other respective pieces.
It is well known that attachment properties of elements may be made polar, i.e., having an acceptable orientation and an unacceptable orientation. Example technologies include magnets, hook and loop fasteners, and form-fitting topologies. Typically, such polarized attachment properties define a male and female configuration, and as known in the art, each element is either entirely male or entirely female, or each element is bipolar. Thus, in the example of a magnet, one side is xe2x80x9cNxe2x80x9d and the other side is xe2x80x9cSxe2x80x9d. In the example of hook and loop fasteners, one side is hook and the other loop, or the entire surface is either hook or loop. In the case of form fitting, an example is xe2x80x9cLego(r)xe2x80x9d blocks, which have an inherent polarity.
Typically, hook and loop fastener games include ballistic projectiles hurled at a target. In this case, the projectile has one polarity and the target the other polarity. For example, the projectile may be a standard-type tennis ball, which provides the loop material, and therefore the target is hook type material (See, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,080,374, 4,863,176, and 5,221,092. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,324,042, 5,549,302, 5,199,715, 5,332,230, and 4,938,485). In another example, a xe2x80x9cdartxe2x80x9d projectile has a leading surface with hook-type material, with a target having loop material (See, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,997,162, and 4,183,530. See also U.S. Pat. No. Re. 34,461).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,242 relates to a board game in which repositionable playing pieces are adhered to a game board with hook and loop fastener material. U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,850 provides a puzzle game in which puzzle elements are held together and to a board with magnets or hook and loop fastener material.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,895,804 relates to a game board employing magnets or hook and loop fastener to hold the pieces in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,504 provides a word game in which letters are held to a board using hook and loop fasteners, having a ballistic component to game play.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,071 provides a word game in which includes an adherent game board surface for forming words using alphabetical letters.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,194 provides a toy road board for toy vehicles. Segments of the road are attached by means of hook and loop material strips.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,552,361 and 4,479,651 provide a jigsaw puzzle work board having a lid that is secured by hook and loop fastener material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,217 relates to a game system having a hook and loop projectile target component.
In many instances, generating elements having a variety of polarity arrangements is difficult. For example, in magnetic systems, the close proximity of externally accessible opposite poles is difficult to achieve. In addition, systems that require various polarity relationships of an element are not well established.
The present in invention provides a set of elements, which provide a flexible polarity arrangement for purposes such as games and logical systems. According to the present invention, game pieces are provided having polarized faces which are independently selectable as male or female, for example in a two-faced game piece as male-male, male female or female-female. As such, there are three sets of game pieces, each with its own logical place within a game schema. A board is provided, for example with a predetermined polarity of locations for respective game pieces, providing a static environment for the stacking of polarized game pieces.
A preferred embodiment of the invention provides game pieces each having two faces, each face having a polarization of male or female. Each face, therefore, will selectively attach to a surface or another piece, depending on the polarization of the respective faces to be adjoined. Therefore, each side of each piece will selectively attach to the board or a respective piece depending on the nature of the presented surface.
Beside the preferred embodiment, it should be understood that other polarization schemes may be provided, to effect selective attachment properties. For example, ceramic magnetic sheet may be provided with particular magnetization patterns. When complementary patterns are presented, a force is generated adhering the surfaces together. On the other hand, where the patterns are incompatible, e.g., provide a net zero or repulsive force, the surfaces will not adhere. For example, linear and circular magnetization patterns are incompatible. It is noted that that, with respect to magnetic surfaces, a gap should be placed between surfaces of incompatible magnetic field patterns to avoid spatial cancellation.
Form fitting elements may also be provided with selective polarities on respective faces of an element. Thus, Lego(r) bricks are known with M-F, M-M, and presumably F-F arrangements. These pieces, however, are used as building blocks, and not as elements of a logical game or variable systematic representation.
Each game element may have two or more faces, for example having two or six (cubic) sides. Further, in the case of, for example, magnetic and form-fitting arrangements, it can be imagined that there may be a plurality of xe2x80x9cpolaritiesxe2x80x9d, thus providing for more complex logical interconnections.
Unlike the case of a flat disk, in which magnetic fields emanating from one face will interact and interfere with those from the other face, in the case of a cubic structure, opposing or adjacent faces may have arbitrary polarity. As discussed above, the magnetic xe2x80x9cpolaritiesxe2x80x9d need not be simple N or S, but rather may be planar patterns of magnetic domains, thus providing a high degree of potential complexity.
Analogously, the polarized elements may be pin-in-socket connectors, which have both male and female types, with additional degrees of freedom in the number of pins. It is also possible to provide a hermaphroditic connector element, and a null element or terminator (no possible connection).
Therefore, it is understood that there are a number of alternatives to hook and loop fasteners, with somewhat different properties and advantages. In the context of a game or novelty, these particular properties may be useful for imparting a different feel or texture to the system, while achieving the same fundamental effects.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the pieces interact not only with a board, but also with each other, and therefore are selectively stackable in accordance with their respective face polarities. In the case of hook and loop fasteners, in a correct mating of opposite types of material, an adhesion will take place providing a substantial interlocking force, while when the same types of material touch there will be no or small adhesion forces.
Another aspect of the invention provides a game board, which is alterable or adaptive, providing for complex game play and/or game variations. Advantageously, the board therefore presents a surface compatible with the element adhesion system, with layout elements that also adhere to the surface. Therefore, the game system may have a large number of configurations and a respective large number of variations and sets of rules. Accessory pieces may be provided separately from the base game system to enhance and/or change the game play in the future.
One advantage of the adhesion properties of the pieces is that they facilitate use of the game in unstable environments, such as during travel. The game system may be provided as a solitaire system or for multiple simultaneous players.
The game board and layout structures, and potentially the game piece elements themselves, may be provided with color and/or graphic elements. Thus, game system may have, for example, character graphics or licensed character graphics, with game rules (and physical adhesion properties) coordinated with animate characteristics corresponding to the graphics.
Likewise, in its simplest iterations, the game system is quite economical, and therefore entire game systems or portions thereof may be promotional of a third party product or service. Thus, advertising graphics and potentially other marketing elements may be incorporated into the system.
The game system may also be xe2x80x9cvirtualizedxe2x80x9d as a computer 100xe2x80x2 based game, represented in FIG. 6, although a physical implementation, as shown in FIG. 5 is preferred. Further, given the low costs associated with simple computer-based games, the game board or game system may include a computer system, including processor 100, power supply 101, input 102 and output 103. The output 103 comprises, for example, a liquid crystal display, while the input 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111 may comprise a set of dome switches, activated by finger depression or game piece placement. Where magnetic game pieces are provided, the input may comprise a magnetic sensor, and an output may comprise a magnetic coil, which attracts and/or repels the pieces. A LCD display is preferably also provided in this case.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts.